When I was young, I saw on TV that the US President was named Reagan, which is very similar to the German word "Regen" (meaning "rain") so I thought the Americans say "Reagan" for rain.

Stefan, Germany

When i was in kindergarten George Bush was president(the first George Bush) and there was this kid in my class whos last name was bush and i thought he was the president's kid.

j

When I first 'Homeland Security', I thought that 'Homeland Security' was about securing you home by installing security alarms and surveillance cameras in every room to protect your house from terrorism.

top belief!

When I was about 6, which would have made it about 1951, I said something innocuous to my grandparents and my grandfather said, "Better not say things like that, or McCarthy will get you." He was joking, but for years I thought "McCarthy" was some kind of mythical ogre like the "boogeyman" who would kidnap you if you misbehaved. For years every time I was bad I worried about "McCarthy". Many years later I found out I hadn't been all that far off.

Eric

top belief!

When there was a referendum for Quebec to seperate from Canada I actuallay thought that Quebec was literally gonna break apart from Canada and that a whole bunch of people would stand on the border and push Quebec away from Canada with machines.

Canuck

When the politicians were talking about issues which begins with the word "pro-" as in pro-war, pro-immigration, pro-abortion, etc. I thought they were professional on war, immigration, gun-control, etc.

When I first heard "USA PATRIOT act" from the news and in the magazine, I thought that "USA PATRIOT act" is something about the Americans involved in patriotism like people should love America and be patriotic about the nation.

When I was about eight, since basically all my parents watched was the news, I thought that the definition of politics was old guys in suits that argued about what was in law textbooks. My mom later explained it when I was ten.

when i was little(about 2), george Bush was president and i thought he and his vice president were people who snuck around and hid behind bushes and got information about people, and his vice president wrote down everything.

prpleprincess

top belief!

There was a US presidential election when I was in 2nd Grade, my teacher showed the class what the president says as he is sworn in: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the President of the United States etc."

I used to believe for about a year following that day that the incoming President *executes* the President who's leaving. My parents laughed so hard -- apparently, they thought it was fitting for the old President to be executed!

Jackie F

I used to believe that Barbara Castle was a building you could visit. (She was a British government minister at the time!)

..maz..

top belief!

When I was little I thought each person was elected individually, so if you liked one presidental canidate and someone else's vice president canidate, you could mix and match. When they announced the winners, everybody who won would get together and work together to run the country.

top belief!

When my brother (16 yrs my senior) went to vote in the General Election I asked him to put my vote in for Harold Wilson - on his return he confirmed that he'd done it. When he won I was delighted and told all my friends about how I had contributed to the victory. It was about 10 years later when my sister-in-law, in an argument, told me that you have to be 18 to vote. I couldn't believe that my brother had lied to me.

Ant

I am from Ireland but grew up in london in the 1980's. At that time Northern Ireland was in the news a lot as was Sinn Fein. Until i was 8 i thought Sinn Fein was a woman and i couldn't work out why she never came on tv herself.

Rosa

top belief!

I didn't realize the whole checks and balances thing when I was little, and I thought the president could just order something to be done, and it would have to be done. So I always wondered why he didn't order the nation to reelect him, so he could be president forever. I thought that maybe the ONLY thing a president couldn't do was order himself to be reelected, so I thought that he should confer with another country, and come to an agreement that if the other country's president would help his pass a law so he could be president forever, he would help that other president in doing the same thing. At least that's what I was planning on doing if I ever became president!!

k8y

top belief!

I used to believe that "Bush" (the president) was an actual bush. I thought that was kind of stupid that people were listening to a bush, so I didn't tell them what I thought so I wouldn't offend them!

MAU!

While in kindergarten one day, I remember somebody interrupting the class and telling us that Jimmy Carter had been elected president. Shortly after I asked my teacher what a president did and was given a rushed answer, "he runs for stuff...". For the few years following I believed that the president was a marathon runner who did so wearing a suit followed by other suited runners wearing dark sunglasses.